Whisky Discovery #90

Compass Box ‘Asyla’ (40% abv) 
Blended Scotch Whisky
Circa £31.00 70cl 

Compass Box Asyla

I was really pleased to see that Compass Box Whiskies were at The Whisky Lounge London Fest, as I’d heard lots of good things about them.

Ian Buxtons’ great book ‘101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die’ lists three of their range, although he makes it quite clear that he would like to recommend them all!

So, after having to bypass the SMWS stand (it was still very busy) we headed over to Compass Box Whiskies where we met Céline, who took us through the range.

For our first dram from Compass Box, we were presented with Asyla.

Asyla is part of the Signature Range from Compass Box and is a blended Scotch Whisky and a blend of two Single Malts from the towns of Alness and Longmorn, and a Single Grain whisky from Fife. With 50% malt whisky, there are few blended Scotches that use as high a malt content. All whiskies used in the blend are ten to twelve years old, and the three combine beautifully for the resultant sweet, delicate and fruity whisky that’s wonderfully soft on the palate.

Compass Box Whisky will tell you that the secret is in the oak and the quality of the casks. Asyla is brought together from whiskies that have only been aged in first-fill American oak casks because these yield whiskies with more vanilla character, more richness and more sweetness than refill casks. The whiskies are combined and returned to casks for marrying up to 24 months before bottling. Asyla is bottled at 40%, is not chill-filtered and naturally coloured.

So what did I think?
As I said earlier, sweet, delicate and very smooth on the palate, with flavours of vanilla-cream, cereals and a subtle apple-like fruit character. A great start to the introduction of the Compass Box whiskies and one of the three mentioned in Ian Buxton’s’ book.